The present invention relates to a Hall effect thruster for use on satellites and other spacecraft. The Hall effect thruster of the present invention expands on previous design concepts by using multiple thruster or acceleration channels to obtain higher power density.
Hall effect thrusters usually consist of a magnetic system and a channel where xenon or some other gas propellant is ionized and accelerated to produce an exhaust beam. Common configurations might be a circular ring with an annular channel or a racetrack shape. An electromagnet system or possibly a permanent magnet system is located external to the channel and surrounds it. U.S. Pat. No. 5,751,113 to Yashnov et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,493 to Yashnov et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,880 to Petrosov et al. exemplify known Hall effect thruster designs.
For scaling to larger sizes and higher powers, it is necessary to increase both the length and the width of the channel to accommodate a larger active plasma region. This usually leads to designs with larger rings or other shapes, and with an empty space in the center region. The mass of a large thruster therefore is significantly increased, because it is necessary to make larger ferromagnetic material structures for flux guides to surround the larger rings. The empty region in the center is mostly wasted space. A larger annular thruster ring also leads to a wide cross-section for the exhaust plume.
It would be desirable to make use of the entire face area of a thruster and to create a smaller footprint with greater power density.